Students boycotting military draft law suspend strike (updates, photos)

The young protesters decided to suspend the strike until November 22 after a delegation of five students met with top parliament officials to negotiate possible compromise-based solutions.

David Petrosyan, one of the students who met with President of the National Assembly Ara Babloyan and Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov, said they had agreed on a plan for dialogues with active and interested civil society representatives.

Sharmazanov, who also later joined the activists outside, said they will hold the meetings in a round-table format to hear and address all the concerns.

“We, as an institution responsible for conducting dialogues, are ready to hold round-table discussions attracting all the interested parties. The education committee will address not only the [army] deferment issue but also more global concerns in education. We demonstrate, yet another time, our willingness to hear each and every citizen, including students,” he noted.

The NA Standing Committee on Education, Culture, Youth and Sport is scheduling the first public debate for November 22.

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The five hunger-striking students later joined the rally. They are threatening to stop drinking and smoking to boycott the passage of the law. Students of the Komitas State Conservatory are also at the protest site.

Speaking to reporters, a deputy chief of the Yerevan Police, Valery Osikyan, said they will launch an internal investigation into the acts of violence that left several students with bodily injuries after clashes with policemen.